


Why must you be so Villanous?

by HappyFazzbearPonies2



Category: Villainous (Cartoon)
Genre: Black Hat is not gonna like it when he finds out, Blood, Gen, He needs fixin', Implied Rape/Non-con, Kidnapping, M/M, Near-death Experiences, Other, Physical Abuse, Portal falling, Really dark, Reverse Black Hat is really broken, Reverse Flug got some HORRIBLE FUCKING PROBLEMS, Reverse Flug needs to suffer for what he has done, Torture, Traumatising experiences, dimension hopping, this fic is dark
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-05
Updated: 2017-11-01
Packaged: 2018-12-11 10:29:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11712549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HappyFazzbearPonies2/pseuds/HappyFazzbearPonies2
Summary: Black Hat was completely broken, he didn't know what it was like to live a moment without fear. He used to be a great Villain until he was completely stuck down by a man who now owns him mentally and physically.Escape was futile and fighting back was impossible.That is, until he fell into a portal and into an unknown dimension where things are obviously a little different.





	1. A sorry excuse for an Ex-Villain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, didn't know what happened there. But when I went to check on this, this story was completely off my AO3. Well, here it is, and re-booted. 
> 
> Cunzy didn't want to be co-author (since she's such a pansy) so even though this is a piece we BOTH made, guess I'll carry it around here.
> 
> Anyways, sorry again for the delay of my other fic. But I just got some new inspiration and hopefully, within a week, I'll be able to put up a new chapter of Flug's New Guardian (Need to find a better name for that)!

It wasn’t the most comfortable thing, hiding in a cupboard. But Black Hat would rather risk breaking his back than face his Boss.

Black Hat whimpered silently, shivering in fear. The whine caught in his throat when he heard the footsteps grow louder, closer towards his hiding place. Tensing, he used his accelerating fear of being found and whatever willpower he had left that wasn’t beaten out of him to remain still and silent.

Craning his neck the tiniest bit, he could see through the crack between the two cupboard doors. With his little vision outside of his safe-place, he saw his Boss walking almost casually, flipping open doors to storage rooms before closing it. Black Hat knew he was looking for him.

Although his neck was starting to strain from the unusual position, he dared not make a move. Not when he was so close.

He was so close to crying when he heard the seeker of this terrifying game of hide and seek start to hum a strange song.

_ Please don’t look in here, please go away…. I don’t want to… _

“Aren’t you going to come out, Black Hat?” a voice purred, “Or do I have to drag you out of that musty cupboard that you decided to cramp yourself in?”

Black Hat’s eyes widened at that, he already knew where he was…

He flinched when a loud knock jangled the cupboard doors. It sounded like a warning.

Swallowing nervously, Black Hat shifted his hand onto the door and gave it a slight push. It swung wide open and standing above him with that sharp-toothed grin was none other than—

“Doctor Flug, sir… please forgive me… I won’t…” Black Hat swallowed again and shivered, still curled up in his hiding place, “I… it won’t happen again… I won’t t..try to escape…or… run away… or… anything… please don’t hur—”

Black Hat cried out in alarm as he was spewed out of the cupboard and crashed into the hard floor, taking the breath from his lungs.

“I said to _ get out of the cupboard,” _ Doctor Flug growled.

“I-I’m sorry, I’m—I’m sorry! I—” Black Hat spluttered out before he was thrown again, straight into a table. There was a loud crash as a vase fell from the turned over table and hit the floor. At that moment, the room went ominously darker.

_ “When is it going to go into your  _ thick skull _ that you cannot run or hide from me?” _

Black Hat whined in pain, brain screaming to run but his body refused to move. “Please… sir… I’m sorry…”

Looking up, the only thing vividly perceptible in the dim-lit room was the red, glowing eyes of Doctor Flug. Everything else was lost to dusky static.

_ “Not sorry enough.” _

Black Hat was full-out crying now; he blubbered for mercy and for him to leave him alone. This only rewarded with a sharp kick to his face that knocked out a few teeth. He tried to curl up but a shadowy force straightened him out and Doctor Flug wasted no time to break Black Hat’s ribs with some well-placed and strong kicks.

Black Hat couldn’t scream out to mirror his pain, for every moment his breath leaves him before he could holler out.

By the time he stopped kicking, Black Hat had passed out, ribs all broken, dangerously poking at his lungs.

Doctor Flug glared at the pathetic man before him before brushing himself down and walking out of the room. He’ll come back for him later. Maybe if he was in the mood, he could have some fun with him as well.

With a demented grin, he left the crime-scene of the room, the door swinging shut with a snap.

* * *

 

“Demencia, please! D…Don’t touch that! It’s just a prototype!” Flug said, exasperated.

“You’re not the boss of me, Flug Bro,” Demencia as she poked out her tongue and held the ray gun teasingly loose in her hand, as if daring Flug to make a grab for it.

Flug went for it and sprang to get a hold of it but he stumbled when Demencia threw it up in the air, his hands swiping at nothing.

“Ha! Nice try, nerd!” sang Demencia, grabbing it as it gave into gravity.

“Try th...this on for size!” squeaked Flug and he grabbed out another gun and pointed it at Demencia. She gasped and went to duck, but the prototype she was holding flew out of her hands and went straight for Flug and he went to grab for it.

“No fair!” whined Demencia.

She swiped for the gun again, shunting Flug out of the way with her shoulder. He hit the corner of the table with a grunt, doubling over in pain as his papers and coffee mug went flying. When he straightened up, Demencia was examining the gun with glee.

“Either you tell me what it does, or I’m going to find out myself!” she warned, pointing it straight at Flug.

He started to object, but gave up with a sigh. “I-it’s a dimensional portal prototype. It w-won’t allow physical objects to pass through to other d-dimensions, but it will open a window so we can see them. I mean… i-it should work like that, anyway.”

Demencia scoffed. “That’s boring. Let’s try it!”

Before Flug could lunge for the gun again, she pointed it at an empty section of wall and pulled the trigger.

Immediately, a glowing portal appeared on the wall that briefly revealed a view of a lab not unlike their own. In a split second, the portal closed again with a bright flash and a loud bang.

Flug staggered backward, blinded and disoriented. When his vision cleared, the first thing he noticed was Demencia staring at the floor near where the portal had been. The second thing he noticed had him rubbing his eyes beneath the goggles, convinced that he was hallucinating somehow.

Lying crumpled on the floor, ragged and disheveled, was Black Hat.

* * *

 

_ Black Hat regained consciousness slowly, his entire body protesting as his internal organs struggled to remain functional. The inhibitor around his neck prevented him from taking any steps to heal himself, much less fight back against his master. _

_ All at once, he was very awake as he was jerked off the ground by his collar. He gasped in pain as his smashed ribs were jarred, several of the sharp bone fragments threatening to break through his dark gray skin. _

_ “Honestly,” Flug snarled as Black Hat cringed away. “You really are the most useless imbecile I have had the misfortune of bringing into my service.” _

_ “I- I’m sorry,” Black Hat choked, feeling the fabric of his shirt tear as Flug shook him roughly. His vision faded, his body refusing to respond to his commands, nearly passing out again when Flug threw him against the wall. _

_ “At the very least,” Flug leered, leaning uncomfortably close to Black Hat’s face, “you can be useful to me in other ways.” _

_ Black Hat went cold as he saw Flug’s mouth curl up into a malevolent grin beneath the bag. _

_ “N-no… please…” he gasped. “N-not again…” _

_ He felt Flug pull back far enough to deliver a sharp punch across his face. The back of his head slammed against the wall as a scream aborted itself in his throat, unable to draw breath through his smashed ribs. He coughed weakly, spitting out shards of broken teeth. _

_ “YOU DON’T HAVE A CHOICE!” Flug roared, pinning Black Hat tightly against the wall by his neck. _

_ Black Hat was beyond words, shuddering with pain and terror as his body threatened to shut down. With one hand waving weakly in a vain attempt to fend off Flug, his other hand felt along the wall behind him for something, anything, he might be able to use to escape. As if escape were an option at this point. _

_ He faltered as he felt the wall shift beneath his fingertips. The entire section of wall that he was trapped against was giving off some sort of magical energy all of a sudden, as if it had been charged with one of Flug Inc.’s prototype lasers. _

_ The inhibitor prevented him from using all but the tiniest shreds of his magic. Still, he reached out behind him with his feeble powers, seeking the source of the strange power surge. Perhaps he could use it to escape… to fight… as though those words meant anything anymore. _

_ To his surprise, his magic connected with something. In an instant, Black Hat was falling backwards, collapsing onto the floor with an impact that surely punctured several of his organs. _

_ The last sight he recognized before passing out was his master’s outraged face. _

* * *

 

Flug and Demencia stared at the figure on the floor for a full minute before looking up at each other uncomprehendingly.

“Uhh… was it supposed to do that?” Demencia asked. “Does this thing summon Black Hat? If so, I want to order ten of them!” Her face cracked in a manic grin.

“N-no, it wasn’t supposed to be able to transport physical objects… but why  _ Black Hat?  _ Was he standing on the other side of the wall?” Flug frowned, trying to wrap his mind around the situation.

“Hey Flugbug?” Demencia said after another moment of silence.

“W-what?”

“Why isn’t he moving?”

It took another five seconds for the implications to sink in, then they were both scrambling to their boss’s side.

“Oh God, he’s bleeding,” Demencia hissed as she tilted his head and a trickle of blood dribbled out of the unconscious demon’s mouth. “Flug, what did you  _ do?” _

I d-didn’t do anything!” Flug protested, listening to Black Hat’s chest. “H-he’s… he’s not breathing.”

“ **TRAIN HORN** !” Demencia cursed.

Instantly, Flug’s demeanor shifted. Gone was the timid scientist who jumped at shadows. In his place was a doctor who had a dying patient on his hands. 

“Demencia, grab an emergency medical kit,” Flug barked with authority. “There’s one under the workbench that’s been developed with Black Hat in mind. Bring it to me, then fetch 505 and gather my equipment from the operating table. We can’t move him to it, so I’ll have to operate on him here. Quickly!”

Demencia leaped to her feet, moving with a speed that only an obsessed lizard-woman could. In an instant, Flug was surrounded by the tools that he could use to help save lives rather than end them. With practiced motions, he cut open Black Hat’s shirt and ran his scalpel along the black skin beneath from collarbone to navel. Demencia winced and looked away, burying her face in 505’s soft fur. He wrapped his paws around her, making distressed bear noises.

Flug ignored them both, completely focused on his operation. With surgical pliers, he pulled Black Hat’s ribs back into place as fully as possible, removing the shards that could not be repaired. Viscous, acidic black blood leaked through his hands and onto the floor.

Even 505 couldn’t watch as Flug plunged his hands up to the wrist into Black Hat’s chest cavity. As quickly as he could, he set to work on the punctured organs. If he had had time to explain what he was doing in layman’s terms, he would have said he was putting in magic paper clips to keep Black Hat’s organs closed.

With his hands drenched in Black Hat’s blood, Flug withdrew them from his boss’s organs and began to sew his chest shut again. Pulling a vial of glowing liquid from inside the surgical kit, Flug moved to inject it into Black Hat’s neck, but stopped.

“What the…” he muttered, noticing the inhibitor for the first time. “What is this?”

He frowned, but put the thought aside for later as he plunged the needle into Black Hat’s wrist instead. The glowing liquid contained an anaesthetic and healing agent developed specifically for Black Hat. 

The unconscious demon didn’t so much as twitch when Flug bandaged his chest tightly.

“There,” he sighed, leaning back on his heels. “That’s everything I can do. We’ll just have to wait and see if it was enough.”

“H-how did this happen?” Demencia finally asked in a hollow voice, still clinging to 505.

Flug shook his head. “We’ll have to ask him if-  _ when _ he wakes up.” He ignored Demencia’s sob at the word. “505, fetch a stretcher. Let’s move him to his bedroom.”

As the bear moved to comply, Flug pulled off his bloodstained gloves and cast a searching glance at the wall that had held the portal.

_ How did this happen?  _ he repeated to himself.

The blank wall offered no answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I'm gonna regret this.


	2. Like Looking Into a Pathetic Mirror

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well me and Cunzy DID do a whole lot of this, so here... new chapter :P
> 
> Also, it's not letting me have today's date (6.8.2017) so I have to go with yesterday's date

Hours had passed. The sky had slowly darkened outside Black Hat manor, but Flug took no notice. He had been sitting motionless next to Black Hat’s bed since he had been moved to his room, watching ceaselessly for any change in his boss’s condition.

Demencia had gotten too worked up trying to sit with them, so Flug had sent her away to clean the lab with 505. He knew from one awkward experience that it would be nearly impossible to clean the demon blood off of the lab’s floor.

Black Hat’s eyes twitched. Instantly, Flug was leaning over him, checking his vitals.

“B-boss? Can you hear me?” he tried.

He watched as Black Hat’s visible eye fluttered open. It was glazed and unfocused, but it slowly began to show recognition… and then fear.

“No!” Black Hat gasped, jerking away from Flug.

Flug pulled away as well, taken aback by the response. “Boss, don’t try to move-” he warned, reaching for Black Hat’s shoulder.

Black Hat let out a quivering wail as Flug’s hand made contact. He thrashed in his bed, his panic increasing as he seemed to realize where he was.

“N-no! Please… please don’t hurt me anymore!” he gasped, tears dripping down his face as he pleaded with Flug. Flug, for his part, stared in utter confusion.

“What on earth-” he muttered to himself, then they both flinched as the bedroom door burst open.

“WHAT ON EARTH IS GOING ON HERE?” roared Black Hat, alive and well, as he stormed into the room.

He stopped short when he saw his double in the bed. Silence fell as they stared at each other in confusion.

“Doctor Flug,” the second Black Hat said, pressing one hand against his eyes, “you’d better have an exceptionally good explanation for this.”

* * *

 

Black Hat had never been more frightened in his life.

After waking up in a strange bed with his master leaning over him (an experience he was, unfortunately, all too familiar with), events had only become more confusing. An exact duplicate of himself- although better dressed and more self-assured- had burst in shouting, although Black Hat was certain he was the only one of his kind in the world.

He didn’t know what was going on. He only knew that Flug was still leaning over him, much too close for comfort, and there was no room in his brain for anything but the fear of what Flug and this oddly identical stranger were going to do to him.

His consciousness faltered, his head spun, and he could barely register that Flug and the stranger were talking to each other in hushed, urgent voices. Were they deciding on the most efficient way to remove his sole remaining eyeball? Were they planning to drain the rest of his blood and use his spine as a pitching wedge? These were the least of the frightening things they could do to him. He was critically injured, his magic was suppressed, and his willpower was nonexistent. If they so chose, they could do… _worse_.

An involuntary shudder ran through him as he remembered the _worse_ things Flug had done to him in the past. Flug and the stranger both looked up at the motion, and he cringed away timidly.

“P-please,” he mumbled, his words muffled by his broken teeth. “I’m s-sorry I tried to escape. J-just… kill me quickly, please.”

Even as he said that, he knew it was pointless. Escape attempts were a crime that Flug would never forgive. The punishment for his previous attempt, almost two years ago, had been the final straw that broke Black Hat’s spirit completely and reduced him to the nervous wreck he was now.

Flug and the clone exchanged a loaded glance. “Flug didn’t go to all the trouble of saving your life just to kill you a few hours later, you know,” the clone said dryly.

Black Hat unsuccessfully tried to hold back tears. If they weren’t planning to kill him immediately, then the pain in store for him would be far, far worse than a quick death.

Flug frowned at the clone. “What he’s trying to say is, we mean you no harm at all,” he corrected.

Black Hat flinched. How many times had he heard similar phrases fall from those same lips?

_“This won’t hurt a bit,” Flug cooed as he inserted a long needle into Black Hat’s neck. “Just relax, it’ll all be over soon.”_

_The fire began to spread through his veins. Black Hat thrashed involuntarily at the restraints, barely managing to shift the chair an inch and receiving a brutal kick to the shins for his trouble._

_“None of that,” Flug snapped, his demeanor of false kindness falling away in an instant. “I need accurate readings, so hold still, you disgusting vermin.”_

_Black Hat wailed as the electrodes attached to his face and chest crackled to life, sending a jolt of electricity through his body. The pain was excruciating, but the serum that Flug had injected into him prevented him from passing out._

_“Hmm,” Flug muttered, checking the monitor as the electricity died down. “Disappointing.”_

_“Oh well,” he continued, leaning over Black Hat lecherously as he tried to cringe away. “You’ll have to make it up to me some other way, hmm?”_

_“N-no,” Black Hat begged, gasping for air. “No… please… no, no...”_

 

“No… n-no…” he was in the unfamiliar bed, and everything hurt, and Flug and the clone were leaning over him and they were too close, _too close too close-_

With a choked sob, Black Hat’s vision went dark and he fainted.

* * *

 

 

Black Hat sat in contemplative silence, staring over his steepled fingers at his unconscious counterpart. From what Flug had told him and his own knowledge of his species, he had managed to piece together a likely hypothesis for how his clone had ended up here.

What that didn’t explain, however, was how another version of himself could have ended up in such a pathetic state. He was clearly starving, showed signs of many past injuries beyond the current broken ribs and teeth, and _what on earth_ was the deal with that blinking thing on his neck??

Black Hat intended to ask the copy when he woke up, but it didn’t seem as though he would be capable of answering many questions. Indeed, it didn’t seem as though he would be capable of much at all. What kind of situation had he come from to make him so afraid of _Flug,_ of all people? The man was about as threatening as a daffodil.

With more patience than he had exhibited in centuries, Black Hat waited until his double began to stir. Timidly, anxiously, the clone clutched the blankets to his chin as his eye scanned the room. He froze when he spotted Black Hat in his armchair, watching him in silence. He stared at Black Hat like a cornered rabbit.

Black Hat waited for the clone to speak up, to ask him questions or beg for mercy again, but he merely continued watching Black Hat in fear. Perhaps he had been conditioned not to speak unless spoken to?

“I suppose you’re wondering who I am,” Black Hat finally declared. The clone flinched and shrank back but did not respond.

 _It seems this conversation will be rather one-sided,_ Black Hat thought to himself dryly. Resigning himself to the task of exposition, he offered the clone a truncated explanation for how he had ended up in this dimension, describing Flug’s portal gun and the magic that must have activated it from the other side.

“That’s why there are two of us,” Black Hat concluded. “I’m the version of you from this dimension, where obviously things are a little bit different.”

The clone kept watching him silently.

“Do you understand what I’m saying to you?” Black Hat prompted with a raised eyebrow.

The clone nodded slightly.

“Do you have any questions?” Black Hat prodded.

“Just…” the clone looked down, seeming ashamed. “I’m unclear w-what my duties are, sir.”

“I”m sorry?” Black Hat was genuinely surprised, which was rare for him. “What do you mean?”

“I a-appreciate your informing me on my situation. P-please just provide me with a list of tasks and I’ll g-get started right away.”

“I’m sorry?” Black Hat repeated sharply.

The clone looked up, still not quite making eye contact. “You’re in charge here, a-are you not? I kn-know I’m not worth much, b-but I’ll do my best to be of use to you.”

Black Hat just stared, completely dumbfounded by the words coming out of this sad clone’s mouth.

“No,” he finally said. “You won’t be doing any of that.”

The clone’s eyes filled with fear. “D-did I do something wrong?” he asked anxiously. “I can be useful, I-I promise! Please-”

“Stop,” Black Hat demanded, raising a hand. The clone froze. “You don’t have any duties. In fact, you’re not moving out of that bed until your injuries are healed. We also have to see about removing that vile thing on your neck. After that, should you choose to stay here, we can discuss your helping out around the house.”

“B-but-” the clone protested weakly.

Black Hat stood up, causing his counterpart to flinch into the blankets. He looked up at Black Hat with a blank sort of despair, as though he had been devoid of hope for so long that he’d forgotten how to believe in anything.

Black Hat knew that look. He’d caused that look in others. Never had he felt remorse about it until this moment.

“I’ll bring you food later,” Black Hat said brusquely, his face betraying none of his emotions. “You’re to stay in bed, understood? I don’t want to mop your blood off my floor.”

The clone nodded quickly. Black Hat left the room without another word. As the door clicked shut, Black Hat leaned against it with a heavy sigh.

 _What am I supposed to do now?_ he asked himself helplessly. _I don’t know how to HELP people. I’m EVIL. I don’t know the first thing about taking care of someone. I don’t know if I can be… whatever it is he needs._

Try as he might to restore himself to his usual level of emotional detachment, Black Hat knew he would be unable to force himself not to care about his frightened clone. After all… it was like staring into a scared, helpless mirror.

_Still…_

_What am I supposed to do?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Villain wonders what the heck he should do.


	3. Start of a Recovery

“You have to eat,” Black Hat said flatly.

The clone refused to respond, the blankets drawn up over his head.

“You’re being ridiculous,” Black Hat insisted. Still no answer from the quivering lump beneath the covers.

He resisted the urge to transform into a beast of nightmares and roar at his uncooperative doppelganger. But his usual methods of gentle coercion most likely wouldn’t work on this nervous creature. 

Hissing a deep breath, Black Hat forced himself to recover some semblance of composure. “Look,” he said sternly. “You’ve clearly been starved. You’re nothing but skin and bones. You  _ need  _ to eat, and soon, or you’ll drop dead. Is that what you want?”

He immediately regretted his words as the silence stretched on. The lack of response was more telling than any answer would have been.

Black Hat was at a complete loss. The only methods of persuasion he knew involved shouting and murder threats, but those would be less than useless in this situation. 

“Look,” he tried to keep his voice neutral as he reached out with one hand. “You have to-”

The instant his hand made contact with the shape under the blanket, the clone jolted violently. With a strangled screech, he thrashed out from under the covers and away from Black Hat.

Black Hat withdrew his hand like he had been stung, utterly bemused as the other demon screamed his lungs out in complete panic. 

_ What happened to him that made him so terrified of being touched?  _ Black Hat wondered.  _ And who could be responsible? _

Black Hat was very familiar with the urge to kill. But the thought of someone  _ causing  _ this poor guy to become like this; picturing what might have  _ happened _ to make him so afraid of a simple touch… Black Hat could barely restrain the urge to dash from the room and inflict unspeakable horrors upon whoever had done this to him.

“Boss, are you-” Demencia burst into the room, and the clone froze.

He didn’t just stop screaming. Abruptly silent, the clone stared at Demencia as though his brain had simply shut off. Demencia stared back, seeming hopelessly confused. Black Hat felt slightly awkward.

“Uh, Boss?” Demencia finally said, breaking her staring contest with the clone to glance at the original.

“D-demencia…” the clone whispered before Black Hat could respond.

She was at his side in an instant, her normally bubbly demeanor quiet and somber as she leaned over the bed. She looked like she wanted to climb right into bed and cuddle him, but restrained herself as he flinched back.

“Boss?” Demencia muttered to Black Hat without looking away from the clone. He held eye contact with his one good eye, staring at Demencia like she was the only person in the world.

“He’s not eating,” Black Hat responded in a low voice. He indicated the bowl of oatmeal lying forgotten on the bedside table.

Something steely settled into Demencia’s face. With a decisive jerk of the head, she banished Black Hat from his seat in the chair and took his place.

“Hey, there,” she cooed to the copy, her voice gentle and soft. Black Hat wouldn’t have suspected someone so rambunctious and borderline psychotic to be capable of such tenderness. “Are you feeling a little bit better? You’ve been asleep for a long time.”

The clone hadn’t so much as blinked, his good eye fixed on Demencia. He gave the slightest nod.

“That’s good to hear. What should I call you?” Demencia prompted. “I know you look like my boss here, but you should have your own name.”

The clone just shrugged, the tiniest tilt of his shoulders indicating his confusion.

“Well, I suppose I’ll have to give you one, won’t I?” Demencia gave him a wide grin. “How about… Bleak? It sounds similar, and it suits you because you look really sad.” She said this with a straight face, as though it was a simple statement of fact. His only response was another tiny shrug.

Demencia nodded as though the matter had been settled. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Bleak,” she announced with another grin.

Bleak coughed slightly. “L-likewise,” he mumbled.

“Now, I’ve got some breakfast for you here. Do you think you can handle eating it?” Demencia prompted.

Bleak stared indecisively at her until she picked up the bowl and handed it to him. When their fingers touched, Bleak flinched like he had been electrocuted. Still, though, he took a small bite of the oatmeal.

Demencia and Black Hat shared a relieved glance as Bleak ate. When he was finished, Black Hat took the bowl away and vanished from the room. Demencia was left alone with Bleak, who continued to watch her in silence.

“Why don’t you take a nap?” she finally suggested. “You look pretty tired.”

That was an understatement. Bleak looked as though he had been run over by a truck, then thrown into a wild-animal enclosure. His clothes, nothing like Black Hat’s fine suit, were torn and filthy, and his face was decorated with old scars. Instead of a monocle, his missing eye was covered with a stained patch.

“You’re going to stay with us forever,” Demencia murmured, practically to herself. “You don’t need to be scared. Just go to sleep.”

As though her words were a magic spell, Bleak’s eye closed and he slept.

* * *

 

Bleak’s recovery continued painfully slowly. Black Hat could have healed such wounds in seconds, but Bleak seemed unable to use magic. Examining the device on Bleak’s neck, Flug deduced that it must be a magic inhibitor of some description. The idea made Black Hat’s stomach turn.

Complicating matters was the fact that Bleak utterly refused to allow anyone to touch him, ever. The lightest touch, especially from Flug, would send him into fits of screaming and thrashing until Black Hat had to hold him down and Flug sedated him. Every time Flug needed to change the bandages, they went through the same horrifying routine.

Demencia was the only one who could ever coax Bleak to eat. He seemed to trust her marginally more than the other two. Sometimes, she was able to calm him out of his panic attacks or get him to answer questions about his past. Unfortunately, Bleak still couldn’t stand the sight of 5.0.5. without breaking down completely. 

Even after his ribs and organs healed sufficiently that Bleak was allowed to get out of bed, he never left his borrowed bedroom on his own. He spent his days huddled beneath the blankets, staring off into space in silence. 

“All right,” Black Hat declared one day, bursting through the door without any warning.

Bleak shrieked in fright, falling out of bed and scrambling beneath it.

Black Hat stopped next to Bleak, his shoes the only visible part of him until he bent down to stare beneath the bed with a glowing eye.

“Come out from there,” he ordered. Bleak shook his head silently.

Black Hat sighed impatiently. “I don’t have time for this. Come out or I will pull you out.”

Immediately, Bleak wriggled back out from under the bed, kneeling on the floor in front of Black Hat with his eyes fixed downward.

“I-I’m sorry…” he whispered hoarsely.

Black Hat rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Now, come with me. If you’re going to live here, it’s time you took a tour of the house.”

Bleak obediently rose to his feet, hesitantly following Black Hat to the door. He paused in the doorway, looking frightened.

Black Hat looked back at him irritably. “Oh, come on. Flug and 5.0.5. aren’t here. Demencia will join us on the tour shortly.”

Shaking from head to toe, Bleak forced himself out the door and followed Black Hat in silence as he pointed out each room of the manor. When Bleak’s strength began to fail, Black Hat brought him back to his room and sent him back to bed. As he left, he paused in the doorway.

“We’ll finish the tour tomorrow,” he said softly. “And… if you’re going to be living here, I’ll do my best to make sure you’re comfortable. So don’t be afraid to let me know if you need anything, alright?”

The only answer was a whimper from beneath the covers.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flug cuts hmself off from everyone, esspecially Bleak, but Black Hat drags him out of his lab before he starves to death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -SLAPS THIS MINI CHAPTER IN ALL OF YOUR FACES AND RUNS AWAY- DISTRACION ACTIVATE!!!!

Flug had been basically barricaded in his lab for almost a week now. He never appeared at meals or in the hallways. As far as Black Hat could tell, Flug was attempting to turn his lab into his own coffin.

“Doctor Flug!” Black Hat barked, throwing the lab’s door open.

Flug shrieked and dropped the screwdriver he was holding, nearly falling out of his chair in fright. “B-boss!” he squeaked, his voice cracking. “D-don’t scare m-me like that!”

“I’ll scare you however I please,” Black Hat snapped, looming over Flug threateningly.

Immediately, Flug dropped his gaze in defeat. “Y-yes boss.”

Black Hat’s gaze softened. He lowered himself into a chair opposite Flug, studying his employee in silence. Flug squirmed under Black Hat’s unblinking gaze.

“Flug,” Black Hat finally said. “You haven’t left your lab in days.”

“I know,” Flug mumbled. “I’m b-behind on some blueprints, that’s all. I should b-be caught up in-“

“Don’t lie to me,” Black Hat interrupted sternly. Flug’s words died in his throat as he withered under his boss’s stern glare. “I know you’re avoiding  _ him,  _ aren’t you? Why are you so frightened of my counterpart? Certainly he’s not as intimidating as  _ me.”  _ Black Hat leaned forward, his fangs glinting menacingly.

Flug pulled back, withdrawing into himself like a turtle. His paper bag trembled as he stared at the floor. “I-I- I’m not afraid of him, it’s just- it’s just that he’s afraid of  _ me!  _ I d-don’t want to r-run into him and make it worse, and- and I don't know how to deal with people being afraid of me,” Flug admitted with a sniffle.

Black Hat quashed his reflexive response to shout at Flug. Instead, he took a deep breath.

“Doctor Flug, do you want him to stop being afraid of you?” he prompted.

“Y-yes,” Flug whispered.

“How do you expect him to do so if you don’t ever interact with him? If you don’t give him a chance to see what a kind, sensitive soul you are, then how will he know?”

“I d-don't- wait, did you just compliment me?” Flug looked up in astonishment.

Black Hat opened his mouth, closed it again, then looked away awkwardly. “No. Of course not.”

“It seemed like it to me…”

Black Hat glared at him for an instant, then his face softened. “It’s my responsibility to take care of the people who live under my roof. That includes you, Flug. You’re not going to hide in your lab for the rest of your life. I won’t let you.”

“Y-yes boss.”

“Don’t sound so miserable about it,” Black Hat snapped. He grabbed Flug’s wrist with one clawed hand, dragging him out of his chair. “Now come on, you’re having a decent meal for once and you’re not complaining about it.”

Flug meekly allowed himself to be pulled down the hall in Black Hat’s wake.

* * *

 

Demencia was already sitting in the dining room, eating a suspiciously bloody piece of meat with her bare hands. There was no sign of 505 or Bleak.

“Flugbug! You’re alive!” Demencia shrieked, leaping up so quickly her chair toppled over. Hurdling the table in a single bound, the threw her arms around Flug in a crushing hug.

“See?” Black Hat said with a smirk. “You can’t just hide in your lab forever, or people will think you’re dead.”

Flug rolled his eyes as Demencia released him. She had left red stains all over his lab coat from whatever was on the meat she had been eating.

“Are you having lunch now?” she asked excitedly.

Flug frowned. “I n-need a clean lab coat, but I’ll be right back.”

Demencia pouted as Flug vanished the way he had come.

Muttering to himself about hygiene standards, Flug rounded a corner to find himself face-to-face with Bleak.

They stared at each other for a long minute, speechless, then Bleak’s eyes flicked down to Flug’s red-streaked lab coat.

Before Flug could explain, Bleak’s eyes rolled up in his head and he fainted.


End file.
